


Right and Wrong

by arllama



Category: Young Riders
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 21:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/141893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arllama/pseuds/arllama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Right was what kept himself and innocent folk alive. Wrong was doing things that made him lose sleep at night. It didn’t get more complicated than that." (Jimmy, Kid, and Lou with many supporting characters. Friendship.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Right and Wrong

**Author's Note:**

  * For [magelette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magelette/gifts).



> Set in Season 1. It was a blast to write for Young Riders, thanks to magelette and her Yuletide inspiration! I hope you enjoy.

It wasn’t raining, but it felt like it would. Every now and then a strong breeze would gust down the main street of town, bringing in cool, damp air from the south. Kid reckoned they had about an hour or so before the darker clouds in the distance would overtake them. It would be more than enough time to finish loading the wagon, though he wouldn’t have minded getting caught out in the storm. They hadn’t had a drop of rain in weeks. The ground was dry and cracked, same as the rivers and creeks. Same as his lips. No one wanted to say ’drought’ but that’s what it felt like to him.

The dirt on the street kicked up as a group of riders passed the general store. Kid closed his eyes, but the grit still managed to find it’s way in. He set the bag of flour he was carrying down on the back of the wagon so he could pull his glove off and rub his eyes.

He heard Sam approach before he cleared his eyes enough to see him. He seemed distracted, but Sam was always thinking about other people's concerns.

“Kid,” Sam greeted him with a nod.

“Marshal.” Kid smiled as he pulled his glove back on.

“You here by yourself today?” Sam asked, his eyes fixed on scanning the street.

“Emma’s inside,” Kid said, nodding to the general store as he tried not to smile more than he already was. He figured it was Sam’s subtle way of asking.

Sam glanced back to the store, taking his eyes off the street for the first time. Kid swore he saw his expression lighten for a moment before he remembered his business and looked back to the street.

“What about the rest of you?”

Kid picked up another bag of flour from the ground and hoisted it up to the wagon. “They’re around somewhere. I pulled the short straw,” he said with a good natured shrug. He didn’t mind doing the work himself and considering he didn’t have any money to waste, it was probably a good thing he kept occupied.

“Say, Kid, you know those boys?” Sam said, nodding toward two men across the street.

Kid paused long enough to take a look. There was a tall one and a taller one, both rough and covered with dirt like they had spent a few days straight riding in the heat. They didn’t look like anyone he knew and they didn’t look friendly either.

“No, can’t say I do.”

“Keep it that way,” Sam said.

“Who are they?” Kid asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“No good,” was all Sam said, his expression turning hard as he watched them stop in front of the bank and look it over before moving on. “Make sure you give them plenty of room and tell the others to do the same.”

“Sure thing,” Kid said.

Sam set off toward the bank at a slow pace, and Kid watched him until he disappeared into the cloud of people, dirt and horses swirling through the street. He didn‘t think much of it, Sweetwater always managed to attract a few troublemakers from time to time.

He finished packing up the last of the supplies as Emma emerged from the store carrying a few more packages. He helped her up to the wagon seat and handed her the reigns just as Buck and Ike joined them. They were laughing about something and Kid was just about to ask when Emma informed them it was time to go. Jimmy hadn’t come back yet and Buck said they hadn’t seen him in about an hour. He volunteered to go and find him, but Kid quickly said he would. It was a shame to come to town and not even get a chance to walk around.

“Remember, you got chores,” Emma reminded him as she flicked the reigns and set out.

“And I ain’t gonna do them for you,” Buck said with a flick of a smile as he and Ike rode behind the wagon. He would, but Kid didn’t want to impose and wasn’t planning on taking that long anyway. Just a walk around town.

Though, he figured he better at least try to find Jimmy. He asked at a few places and they pointed him toward the livery. As a few drops of rain fell, he walked across the street to the livery. It seemed empty, except for horses and wagon waiting to be fixed. He tried around back to see if there were any new horses Jimmy was taking a look at.

There weren’t any horses.

But he did find Jimmy.

He was with two men. Kid felt a breath hitch in his throat as he recognized them. They were still covered in dirt, still looking just as unfriendly as when Sam pointed them out.

Jimmy stood at a distance from them. Close enough to talk, but far enough away to draw his gun if he needed to. He seemed to know them in some way, but not a good way. His hand was openly resting on the handle of his gun. Whoever they were, Jimmy didn’t trust them.

Kid started to walk toward them. Two against one wasn’t odds he much cared for. He didn’t expect Jimmy would appreciate him butting in, but he never sought to be in Jimmy’s good graces.

“There a problem here?” Kid said, loud enough to announce his presence as he moved out into the open. He drew the attention of the two strangers instantly. Jimmy glanced to him a moment later in annoyance.

“You best keep movin’,” the taller stranger said, taking no pains to hide the threat in his voice. The other stranger pulled his pistol slowly from its holster in an obvious signal that Kid was not welcome.

Kid wasn’t easily swayed or scared off, but they didn’t know that. He kept moving toward them, settling a few feet to the side of Jimmy.

“He a friend of yours or something?” the taller stranger asked, not liking the continued interruption.

“No,” Jimmy said with little difficulty. “I don’t know him. And if he was smart, he‘d move on.”

Kid didn’t know what Jimmy was playing at, but he clearly was confident that he could take on the two of them without help. Kid wasn’t so confident. So he didn’t move.

The taller stranger looked between them, trying to figure out what kind of threat Kid posed. His finger cocked the gun while it still rested in his holster. He was getting ready to draw.

“Don’t do that, Rolston,” Jimmy warned him, his eye catching the slight movement. Rolston ignored it. In the next second, he had drawn and pointed the gun at Kid. Kid flinched but stood his ground, knowing he’d be dead if that was Rolston’s intent. In that same second, however, Jimmy had drawn his gun and leveled it at Rolston’s head. Rolston seemed more amused than anything. Rolston’s friend slowly pointed his weapon at Jimmy in case he got any ideas.

“See,” Rolston said to Jimmy with a gritted smile, “I knew you always were a liar. You know this boy after all. You wouldn‘t have drawn on me otherwise.”

“Point the gun somewhere else, Rolston,” Jimmy told him, cocking the gun he had pointed at Rolston’s head. “If he dies, you die.”

“You’re gonna shoot both of us before I pull the trigger on him and Red pulls the trigger on you?” Rolston said almost challenging him to try.

“Find out,” was all Jimmy said.

Rolston considered him a moment before he lifted his gun. The other man followed suit, though they didn’t put them away. Kid felt himself let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding as Jimmy also lifted his gun. An uneasy peace was restored for the moment.

“You’re lucky we ain’t interested in anyone but Hickok today,” Rolston said to Kid. “I don’t like people stickin’ their noses in where it don’t belong.”

“He don’t matter. You’re here for me, talk to me,” Jimmy said.

Rolston didn‘t look away from Kid. “He’ll cross you, first chance he gets,” Rolston said.

“I never crossed you,” Jimmy retorted. “But you always were too thick to tell the difference.”

Rolston’s eyes snapped back to Jimmy, narrowing as Jimmy smiled to calculated effect. He set his jaw and readjusted the grip on his gun as his eyes bored into Jimmy. He forgot Kid altogether, which was probably the only reason Jimmy risked insulting a man with two guns that had a friend with two guns. Kid didn’t know if he should thank Jimmy or tell him how stupid he was.

“We’ll settle this fair,” Rolston said. “You got three days.”

“I ain’t gonna back out. I’ll be at South Pass,” Jimmy responded. That’s what they must have been talking about as he walked up, Kid realized.

“See that you are,” Rolston said before glancing at Kid briefly. “Or we’ll come back and find your friend first before we come lookin’ for you.”

Jimmy didn’t react to the threat and if he was anything more than bored, he didn’t show it. It wasn’t what Rolston was looking for, but he left it at that, knowing he didn’t have to make the point any clearer. He nodded to the other and they pushed past Kid on their way out.

They waited in silence until the footsteps faded into the traffic of the street. Kid expected Jimmy to say something, but he didn’t. He simply slid his gun back into its holster, avoiding looking Kid in the eye.

“Jimmy-” Kid started. He wasn’t getting out of it that easy.

“Don’t ask,” Jimmy told him with a clear edge in his voice. He began to walk away like he did with any problem he couldn’t punch or shoot.

Kid followed after him, matching his stride. “What was that about?” he asked, ignoring the sharp glare Jimmy threw at him.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? You tellin’ me I almost got shot over nothing?”

“I would have shot him first,” Jimmy countered, as if that should have been reassurance enough.

“Thanks, that’s real nice. But it don’t explain why a man had a gun drawn on me.”

Jimmy stopped abruptly and Kid had to step sideways to avoid colliding with him. Jimmy turned and looked at him for the first time. His expression was hard, though he seemed more worn than angry.

“Look, Kid. I’m sorry you got caught up in that.” He seemed sincere, at least Kid figured so. Jimmy wasn’t in the habit of apologizing. “But it’d be best if you forgot it happened and go on minding your own business.”

“They want to kill you, Jimmy,” Kid said, laying it out for him plainly. “I’m not going to pretend like it didn’t happen.”

Jimmy exhaled in irritation and turned his back on Kid as he stepped toward the street. Kid knew Jimmy got frustrated with him, Kid got frustrated with him just the same. They didn’t see eye to eye on a lot and they were both sure they were each in the right when they disagreed.

Jimmy stopped after a few steps and looked back at Kid. “It ain’t nothing’ new, Kid,” he said.

“Maybe not, but it don’t make it right.”

“How do you know? Maybe they got a reason. Maybe I wronged them,” Jimmy said.

“Did you?” Kid pressed him.

Jimmy hesitated, looking away for a moment. “Maybe,” was all he said.

Kid nodded, accepting the brief explanation. It was all he needed to know. Whatever happened between Jimmy and the Rolstons was more than Jimmy was willing to share. Kid respected that. He didn’t tell most folks much himself and liked it that way. Besides, he didn’t need to know the history, he just needed to know what Jimmy was planning on doing so he could help him.

“You going to meet with them?” Kid asked.

Jimmy didn’t answer immediately, almost as if he was thinking about whether or not to tell Kid the truth. “Yeah,” he admitted finally. “If I don’t they’ll come back sooner or later. They said they’d kill you and they’re good for it.”

“Don’t do it on my account,” Kid told him, but Jimmy didn’t acknowledge it. “I can take care of myself.”

“No, you can’t. Not against them.”

“And you can?”

“I got a chance, and that’s a hell of a lot more than you got.”

“Then I’ll go with you and watch your back.”

“No,” Jimmy said flatly.

“Don’t be stupid,” Kid told him.

“This ain’t the first time someone’s come looking for me. I’ll take care of it and if you wanna help, just promise me you won’t tell Teaspoon or anyone else. All right?”

Kid’s silence was pointed. He didn’t want to make that promise, especially because he knew Jimmy needed more help than he was willing to accept.

“Promise me, Kid,” Jimmy said, his tone more urgent. “I don’t want anyone getting’ hurt.”

“Fine,” Kid said after a few moments, “I won’t tell no one-”

“Thanks,” Jimmy said with a relieved nod.

“-If I go with you,” Kid finished.

If Jimmy could have killed with a look the same as bullets, Kid figured he would have been dead five times over in that one moment.

“Damn it, Kid,” Jimmy swore. His eyes narrowed as he considered both options, liking neither. He swore again under his breath as he lifted up his hat to comb the hair back from his face before setting it back on his head.

“You want to die? Fine, come along,” he said as he stalked off toward the general store where they had hitched their horses. It was as much of an invitation as Kid was going to get, but it was clear Jimmy didn’t want the company. “Just stay out of my way,” Jimmy called back over his shoulder.

Kid considered it a victory and smiled inwardly. Jimmy was as stubborn as all hell sometimes and he didn’t really expect he would agree to anything. But at least this way, he’d have another pair of eyes watching out for him in case the Rolstons weren’t interested in a fair fight. Still, he knew what they were up against, even if Jimmy thought he didn’t.

Kid started off after Jimmy, threading his way through the horses and foot traffic of the street. He was only halfway across when he saw Sam leaning against the front of the general store, watching them as they crossed. He looked none too pleased. He must have seen Rolston come the same way just a few moments before. He stood away from the building as Jimmy reached his horse and started to untie it.

“What’s your business with the Rolstons, Jimmy?” Sam questioned him, wasting no words.

“It’s settled,” Jimmy said tersely as he put a foot in the stirrup and hoisted himself up.

“I don’t want any trouble here, understood?” Sam warned him.

“There won‘t be any,” Jimmy said. He pulled the reigns back and turned his horse toward the street.

Sam looked even less pleased as he watched Jimmy ride out. His attention turned to Kid as he unhitched his horse and began to mount.

“Kid,” he was all he said, though it was clear he wanted an explanation.

“There won’t be any trouble. It was a just a misunderstanding,” Kid said, trying to say what he could without saying too much.

Sam shook his head. “Men like that don’t travel a hundred miles over nothing. What’s he done?” Sam nodded in the direction Jimmy went.

“Honest, Sam, I don’t know,” he said. It was true, though he couldn’t help but feeling he was lying anyway.

Sam considered him. Kid couldn’t tell if he believed him or not.

“You think of anything else, you tell me,” he said with a severity Kid hadn’t seen often from him. Whatever Jimmy was tangled up in, it was serious.

___________________________________________________

The rain passed them over with no more than a drop or two finding its way to the ground. As he rode into the way station, Kid could even see what must have been a torrential rain pour from the clouds about fifty miles to the east. He tried not to think about it too much as the sun emerged again and dried up what little rain had managed to fall.

The rest of the afternoon passed with the usual amount of predictability he was accustom to. Riders came and went, and chores were complained about and attended to. The only thing out of the ordinary was Jimmy offering to help him pitch hay. Considering Jimmy would rather die a slow death than do a chore more than assigned, Kid thought it unusual but didn’t question it. He didn’t know if Jimmy simply wanted something to keep his mind occupied, felt bad about that afternoon or wanted to make sure Kid kept up his end of the deal, but he wouldn’t turn down an extra hand.

They didn’t talk much, though that wasn’t odd for them.

They had been working together about twenty minutes without out a word between them when Jimmy spoke.

“I shot a cousin of their’s.”

Kid stopped, not sure he heard what he thought he did. Jimmy kept on spearing the pitchfork into the hay and tossing loads of it into the stalls.

“They’re brothers, you know, Rolston and Red. I rode with them a while back. Their cousin, he drew on me. I thought he did anyway.”

Kid waited for Jimmy to finish what he wanted to say. After a few minutes, it was clear that was all he was planning on saying. It was still more than Kid ever expected he‘d tell him.

“Did you kill him?” Kid asked as casually as he could, trying to keep any accusation from his voice.

Jimmy nodded as he lifted another load of hay over the rail. “I didn’t mean to…” he started, but thought better of it and didn’t finish. He planted the fork into the hay and stopped to look at Kid.

“I ain’t someone you want to lay your life down for,” he said with more certainty than Kid had heard from him in a while. He meant what he said.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Kid said. He meant it too.

Jimmy didn’t say anything else as he started working again. Neither did Kid.

 

_______________________________________________________

 

Jimmy went through the rest of the evening caught up in his own thoughts. Most of the others mistook it for a bad mood and steered clear of him.

Before joining up with the Pony Express, he thought he’d figured out right and wrong. Right was what kept himself and innocent folk alive. Wrong was doing things that made him lose sleep at night. It didn’t get more complicated than that. Before, he would have taken the Rolston’s challenge, killed them and moved on. That would have been right. But it wasn’t right to him any more. At least, it wasn’t so simple as that.

Somewhere along the way he picked up concerns. He was concerned what people thought about him and losing their respect. He was concerned about people getting hurt over things he’d done. And he was concerned about what happened to other people and trying his best to do right by them. He didn’t know when it happened or even why, but he didn’t mind it. It just made things more complicated.

He liked what he had here. People didn’t want nothing from him except a full days work. He knew he cared about them, even though caring about folks hadn’t brought him nothing but trouble in the past.

He’d made up his mind pretty quick that he was leaving Kid behind. He wouldn’t be able to live it down with Lou or anyone else if Kid got killed over a score that wasn’t his to settle. He knew Kid was willing to risk it, but that was because Kid was Kid.

“Jimmy!” he heard Lou before he saw her. Her voice was serious enough he knew it was best to stop and see what she wanted. It was late enough that she probably didn’t need him to take her ride. The last sliver of sun had dipped over the horizon a few minutes ago and the sky was dimming. So he slowed his pace and waited for her to catch up with him.

“Did you make Kid promise you something?” she asked as soon as she was at his side.

“What?”

“He usually talks to me about most things. He won’t say nothing about you or what happened in town.”

“What do you want me to do about it?” he countered

She didn’t answer immediately, thinking over what she was going to say before she said it. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

He let out a wry laugh. “Everyone’s so damned concerned.”

“Of course we are. We’re your friends.”

“Well I don’t need your concern or anyone else’s. I got along just fine with no one caring what I was doing or who I talked to.”

“Jimmy, what’s gotten into you?” She looked at him in disbelief. The surprise and subtle hurt in her voice made him stop. He had said too much, his temper had gotten the best of him. Again.

“I’m sorry, Lou,” he offered in apology. He didn’t mean to snap at her. “But I need to handle this myself, it’s better for everyone.”

She didn’t seem convinced, but accepted the apology and explanation with a nod. “Is this about those Rolstons Sam was talking about?”

“Yeah,” Jimmy said as they reached the barn. He wanted to tell her more, figuring she might understand where he was coming from, but didn’t want to chance it. He took a seat on a bale of hay and picked his words carefully. “I done some wrong in my time and it keeps on finding me. It don’t seem to matter how right I try to live or how much I try to forget. It’s like I ain’t never gonna get ahead of it.”

“I know it seems like that, but you will. I know you will,” Lou said with all the confidence he didn’t feel. She touched him lightly on the shoulder. He looked up at her before their attention was drawn by the corral gate swinging open with the wind. Kid and Ike were there to close it before the horses got loose. Lou was reminded in part of why she sought Jimmy out and put her hand back in her pocket.

“What do you aim to do?” she asked, glancing at Kid. Jimmy saw it and figured he’d tell her, so at least one person would know he wasn’t all bad if he didn’t manage to come back.

“I’m headin’ out tonight. Kid was planning’ on coming with me. He thinks he’s helping, but he ain’t. So if you could just cover for me long enough so I could get a head start.”

“You thinks that’s best?” she said in a way that made him think she didn’t.

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “But what do you want me to tell Kid? He ain’t gonna be happy you left him.”

Jimmy thought on it a minute. “Tell him I said thanks.”

______________________________________________________________

 

Jimmy went to sleep in his clothes that night so he could slip out as quickly as possible. He waited until the last candle had been put out before he closed his eyes. The others continued to talk quietly, laughing as they exchanged a joke Cody had brought back from Alkali. He didn’t intend to fall asleep, but he did anyway.

A few hours later, he awoke with a start. For a brief moment he was afraid he had slept through to morning and missed his chance. But it was still silent and dark with no hint of light on the horizon. He slipped out of bed and felt for his boots in the dark. Picking them up in one hand, he slung his gun belt over one shoulder and put his hat on.

He took one last look back into the bunkhouse to make sure no one woke up before he reached for the door.

“You goin’?” Lou said quietly. She’d probably been awake the whole time.

“Yeah,” he whispered.

“Take care,” she told him.

He opened the door and crept out, closing it as carefully as he could. He stopped outside long enough to put his boots on. Just as he slipped into the second one, he heard a horse exhale loudly directly behind him. He froze and turned slowly.

In the moonlight, he could make out the silhouette of four riders and two horses, one of which was his.

“Nice night for ride,” he heard Buck’s voice say to him. This couldn’t be. He took a step closer. It was. Ike, Kid, Buck and Cody were packed up to ride.

“Come on, we’re goin‘ with you,” Cody said, holding out the reigns of Jimmy’s horse for him to take.

“I don’t want you to come with me, that’s the whole point,” Jimmy said as he pulled the reigns from Cody’s hand.

“Kid, you promised you wouldn’t-”

Kid held his hands up to stop Jimmy. “I didn’t have anything to do with it. As much as I’d like to say I did.”

“Come on, time is wastin’,” Lou said behind him as she put on her hat and pulled on her coat. She closed the door of the bunkhouse and smiled at Jimmy as she walked passed him to the others.

He closed his eyes in frustration. Lou.

“Lou, what did I say?” Jimmy said, all his patience gone. She was supposed to be covering for him, not telling everyone and their brother what he was he was doing.

“Oh, right,“ she said as if just remembering. Looking at Kid before looking at the rest of them, she said, “Jimmy told me to tell you thanks.”

Kid grinned at the look on Jimmy’s face. But didn’t have the heart to laugh. Cody had no problems, and said he was going to remember that look for the rest of his life.

“It ain’t gonna be too long, if you don’t wipe that grin off your face,” Jimmy threatened as he swung a leg up over the saddle and regarded them all dryly.

“So,” Jimmy started, “I suppose nothing’ I say is gonna convince you to let me alone.”

Ike shook his head.

“No,” Buck confirmed

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Cody said.

“Why are you still talkin’ about what’s been decided?” Lou said.

Kid kept on smiling. Jimmy knew he was beat. But he seemed to be warming to the idea, considering he hadn’t started swearing yet. Kid didn’t ever expect him to admit it though.

“If you can’t keep up with me, I ain’t waitin’ for you.” Jimmy gave his horse a kick and took off to the west at a full tear. They followed after him, more than up to the challenge.

As he rode into the darkness, he felt a weight lift from shoulders. It felt right having them with him. And with no one to see him, he felt himself smile-just a little bit.


End file.
